Free Ranger's Apprentice 12: The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan

doing.’ Maddie’s mouth set in a thin line. She realised that she’d finally pushed her parents too far and now they wouldn’t back off. It was too late to make the sort of abject – and totally false – apology that had got her out of trouble in the past. She’d gone to that well too often, and now their patience was at an end.
    ‘You need order and discipline in your life. You need a sense of purpose.’ That was her father.
    Her shoulders dropped in despair. Order, discipline and purpose, she thought. Could it get any worse than this?
    She thought frantically. Was there nothing she could do to stave this off? Was there no subterfuge she could attempt? She had to try.
    ‘Mum, Dad, I know I’ve been behaving terribly and I can see how I’ve upset you. But I –’
    Her mother stopped her with an impatient gesture.
    ‘It’s too late for that, Maddie. We’ve given you one chance after another and you’ve continued to do as you please and flout our authority. Well, our patience is finally at an end. Our minds are made up.’
    And that was that, Maddie thought. She knew her mother well enough to know that Cassandra had a will of iron and would not be deterred from a path once she had chosen it. Maddie took a deep breath and waited for the worst.
    ‘We’ve decided,’ Horace said, ‘to send you to Will as an apprentice.’
    Maddie’s heart leapt. She kept her eyes cast down, not wanting them to see the sudden light of pleasure that she knew would be all too obvious. Waiting a few seconds until she had herself under control, she looked up at them, suddenly fearful that she had mistaken what Horace had said.
    ‘Will?’ she said tentatively. ‘You mean Uncle Will?’
    Will was her godfather. He’d been her sponsor at her naming day and had sworn to act in place of her parents if ever that became necessary. She loved Will. When she was a child, she had often visited him at Redmont Fief, staying in his warm little cabin and going on hunting and camping trips into the forest with him. Will was fun. Will had a mischievous sense of humour that matched her own.
    Of course, she thought, he’d been fairly serious since Alyss’s death. She had seen him once or twice since then and he’d been grim and humourless. But that was only to be expected. He’d get over that soon enough. She realised her mother was replying to the question she had asked.
    ‘Yes. Will. Your godfather. We’re going to ask him to take you on as an apprentice and train you as a Ranger.’
    ‘But . . . I’m a girl,’ Maddie said uncertainly.
    Her mother regarded her dryly. ‘Sometimes I’ve wondered if you were aware of that,’ she said.
    Maddie waved the sarcasm aside. ‘I mean . . . there are no girl Rangers. There never have been . . . have there?’ She frowned, trying to think if she’d ever heard of such a thing. Then she shook her head. She was sure there never had been a girl Ranger before.
    ‘You’ll be the first,’ her father confirmed.
    ‘And I’ll be living with Uncle Will? At Redmont?’ she said. They both nodded, and she couldn’t help the huge smile spreading across her face.
    Castle Redmont was far less stuffy and formal than Araluen. Baron Arald and his wife, Sandra, were genial hosts and they’d always treated her with affection. Not only that, she thought, she would outrank everyone at Redmont – even Baron Arald. There would be nobody there who could tell her how to behave or what to do. This was wonderful news!
    ‘I’d go easy on the Uncle Will if I were you,’ Horace said in a warning tone. ‘You’ll be his apprentice, you know.’
    ‘Yes. Yes,’ she said excitedly, her mind racing. She could see a future of hunting parties and dances and picnics at Castle Redmont, with her at the centre of things, ordering people to do her wishes, rather than being ordered about by her parents.
    Of course, she’d have to be careful that she didn’t overdo it. If word got back to them that she was enjoying herself